Like a mysterious barge floating somewhere in the bay, the long-rumored Google store has drifted in and out of the public imagination for some time. And with the search giant reportedly poised to open a shop in New York's SoHo neighborhood near an Apple Store, comparisons between the Silicon Valley rivals and their retail goals are inevitable.

But I can confidently assure you that a Google store won't be anything like an Apple Store - and nor should it. The two companies need entirely different things from retail.

Apple has long made stuff that people can touch and hold: MacBooks, iPods, iPhones and iPads. Prior to the first Apple Store, plenty of retailers were already selling Apple gear. In fact, Best Buy to this day is the country's largest seller of Apple computers.

Google, by contrast, is primarily a search firm that pays its bills with digital advertising. That makes it hard for consumers to picture what exactly Google wants to plug beyond its much-hyped Glass. (Twenty percent off all search algorithms, this weekend only!)

Yet Google has built an impressive product inventory in a relatively short period of time: Chromebooks, Google-branded Nexus smartphones and tablets, not to mention its Android software, which powers most of the world's mobile devices.

So Google needs a store not just to sell stuff but to reposition itself as a company that has something to sell to shoppers, said Carol Spieckerman, president of Newmarketbuilders retail consulting firm. Products like Glass and an anticipated smart watch demand a physical space where people can try the devices and ask questions, she said.

"Being associated with retail is very important to Google's growth," Spieckerman said. "The company needs to accelerate the shift in consumer perceptions that it is more than just a search engine."

Google has smartly taken its time. Retail is an exceedingly difficult business that requires an array of skills beyond the grasp of many tech companies: real estate, merchandising, inventory management, and hiring and training salespeople. That's why Samsung, maker of the popular Galaxy smartphones and tablets, chose to create Samsung Experience "store-within-a-store" shops inside Best Buy's 1,000 locations in the United States

Apple advantages

Rushing alone into retail can mean the difference between building an Apple Store (good) and a Microsoft store (bad) or Sony store (very bad). Apple enjoyed several strategic advantages, first and foremost its larger-than-life founder. Steve Jobs was unhappy with the way retailers like Best Buy sold his merchandise. Such big-box shops seemed more interested in squeezing profit margin out of suppliers than in properly marketing and displaying the products.

So Jobs, with the help of former Target executive Ron Johnson, developed a concept that did not try to hard-sell the customer. Instead, they sold an experience that treated customers well and made their products cult commodities. Jobs bet correctly that shoppers who enjoyed the store - especially the Genius Bar - would want to buy again and again. Rather than forcing customers to queue up, Apple employees processed sales on iPhones, helping showcase the device.

"It was a defensive move that was executed brilliantly," said Jay Samit, a former executive vice president and general manager at Sony Corp. "When the iPod first come out, Sony sold products at 14,000 retail locations worldwide. You want to compete with that getting on shelves? As it turns out, Jobs disrupted retail. The No. 1 customer complaint is waiting in the checkout line when you already know what you want to buy. Is there a line at an Apple Store?"

Soon Microsoft and Sony rushed to copy Apple - but to little success. Unlike Apple, which enjoyed complete control over its store because of its integrated products and services, Microsoft had to work with a hodge-podge of manufacturers, each with their own needs and agendas.

Sony strategy

As for Sony, which opened a Sony Style store at the Metreon mall in downtown San Francisco, the Japanese conglomerate's retail efforts were undone by its internal politics, Samit said. Instead of focusing on customers, the company spent most of its time trying to appease its disparate divisions by stocking the shelves with products, regardless of whether the merchandise sold, he said.

"Changing things takes someone at the top," Samit said. "One big part of the conglomerate tends to kill the part that's the company's future. Big corporations are not set up to innovate."

And neither Sony nor Microsoft enjoyed the design and aesthetic values of Apple, a contrast made painfully clear when both companies decided to build locations near Apple Stores. Sony ultimately closed its store at the Metreon. And while Microsoft continues to operate a handful of stores, the company followed Samsung's lead and opened locations within Best Buy stores.

Google seems to be exploring a number of options. In addition to the SoHo location, the company is rumored to be developing a store-within-a-store concept at Best Buy. Google recently built expanded displays at some Best Buy locations. Some have even suspected that the infamous Google barge that recently anchored at Stockton might someday become a floating Google store, or display space.

"In a short period of time, the company has assembled a portfolio of products and services that warrant a physical presence," Spieckerman said. "In today's retail world, you just can't rely solely on one distribution channel like digital."